Getting into the swing of things

After a long flight from Melbourne to Auckland then onto Vancouver I finally made it to Canada! The train ride and walk through the streets of downtown Vancouver was a bit daunting to say the least but my nerves soon eased when I checked into the Same sun hostel and one of my room mates offered me to go for a beer. That beer soon turned into a few and before I knew it I was woken up by someone at the hostel telling me to go to bed. True style  for my first night in Vancouver.

Vancouver Harbor with Grouse Mountain in the Background

The next part of traveling which I was dreading the most was the 13 hour bus ride from Vancouver to Banff however it was a pretty easy ride with the bus stopping every 2-3 hours. After finally arriving in Banff I checked into the HI Hostel which was a bit out of town which was good cause I was a bit tired from the partying in Vancouver so I had a few quiet days in Banff taking in the sites of Rockies, it was good to just relax at the hostel with a couple of beers.

 

View from the HI Hostel

The day had finally arrived for me to check into staff housing(Charleston Residence/Chucktown), I was welcomed with open arms by my new housemates for the next 6 months. There are about 600 staff that live in Chuck town during the peak of winter and there's always something going on here which is good. So after nearly 2 weeks here friendships have been formed and I am starting to remember everyone's name.

Lake Louise Ski Area Base

The snow has been coming in thick and fast since I started working many powder days already and now with the whole hill open getting out there is gonna get even better, with 3 full days and a few ride breaks under belt already my boarding is becoming better and better as the days go on and with the snow coming down hard outside as I type the 3rd powder day in a row is on the cards for tomorrow.

Life is great and the snow gods are playing nice (So Far)

Found During a Hike to Lake Louise

Don't Miss out on next Season, Get in touch with The Working Holiday Club. 

 

http://www.the-workingholiday-club.com/

Get ready for some POW

The Journey So far

The Journey So Far...

Whilst on a ski holiday in Japan earlier this year I could not help but notice all the "locals" there for the winter season, making the most of their adopted home country. We asked one guy working at a ski shop what it was like working in a ski resort... his response was "I just want a bluebird day".  Being in the land of the long white cloud those bluebird days do come long and far between, but if that's all he was worried about then he was doing pretty well. 

One of Niseko's semi blue bird day

After returning, my mind already turned to my next trip or even day trip to the snow. Being in the middle of summer and my average looking bank account this trip was not gonna happen anytime soon. As work got progressively more of a struggle the an extended trip was going to be the way to go. Now i had not really thought I would ever do a snow season in Australia let alone anywhere else. Let just say a snow season was more of a pipe dream than anything else at this stage. However, hours of research and hearing stories of friends doing seasons the prospect of taking the dive was looking more like a reality. Being Australian Blackcomb Whistler was my obvious choice, looking through their website put me onto The Working Holiday Club (TWHC) which is where the process started. 

Queenstown NZ

 Talking to Jake from The working holiday club this "pipe dream" began to take shape with one small set back being I was too late for the Whistler applications, which I was fine with seeing as Whistler was the only Canadian Ski resort I had really heard of. Jake gave me a list of resorts that still had vacancies for applications one resort being Lake Louise. I had seen "the Lake" before on travel shows and commercials but never thought behind all those photo's would be a ski resort. Who wouldn't want to wake up to that view every morning?

Lake Louise During winter

Fairmont Lake Louise & Lake Louise Ski Area in the Background

With job and resort selected next came the dreaded interviews, however with the lists of proposed interview questions and a informative phone call from Julia from The working holiday club I knew I was going to be well prepared for the interview. Waiting to go into our interviews there were a few nervous faces which soon turned when Jake and Julia started chatting to us putting our minds at ease which took away some of the nerves which helped me answer some of those "out there" questions that Sarah (the interviewer) threw at me.... "If Germans were the tallest people in the world, how would you measure them?"
Coming out of the interview I felt pretty confident but It would ultimately be up to Sarah to make the final decision. 
Thankfully Sarah's decision was positive on my behalf and I finally had a job lined up in the Lake Louise. 


Knowing that I will have a job and accommodation was a big factor in whether i would go on a snow season or not, it's just something about uncertainty that I worry about not knowing where you were going to live when you get to a new country seemed a bit daunting to me. One thing that The working holiday club strongly suggested to do when I first signed up was the visa organization, one piece of advised I would give to future club members is DO IT ASAP, the longest part is the police to check to come back, when it says it can take up to 6 weeks they mean it will take 6 weeks. 

Now that Lake Louise has started to receive snow and future colleagues have already started to make their way over to Canada this once pipe dream has been made into a reality for me with the help of The Working Holiday Club. With everything sorted for me to go, I am getting a bit excited with the journey that awaits....

Lake Louise Ski Area 2/10/2012